Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Civil servants are supposed to be 'colour blind', serving everyone equally irrespective of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, but does this happen in Malaysia? Are civil servants appointed and/or promoted based on merits?

The Ibans are still the single largest
ethnic group with a population of 713,421 in 2010 ...The Chinese... 577,646 in 2010. The third largest ethnic group are
the Malays with 568,113, followed by the Bidayuhs (198,473); Melanaus
(123,410); other Bumiputera groups (156,436); Indians 7,411 and others
9,138.

Note that in Malaysia, the Federal Constitution in Article 153 do provide for positive discrimination - "...the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong shall exercise his functions under this Constitution
and federal law in such manner as may be necessary to safeguard the
special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah
and Sarawak of such proportion as he may deem reasonable of positions
in the public service (other than the public service of a State)..."

So, are we only talking about Federal 'public service' positions only - and not State public service positions? So, what does the State Constitution say? Does State Constitutions also provide for positive discrimination in favour of 'Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah
and Sarawak'? Well, maybe we have to look also at the Sarawak State Constitution...

It may be important to determine the number of Malays in Malaysia, and the number of the different native groups from Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, and consider whether the Federal public service. How many Federal public servants in Malaysia are from the 'different native groups from Sabah and Sarawak' - we may be wanting to look at also at the positions they hold? We may wonder, for example, how many Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyah, Melanau or Penans hold positions in various Federal Ministries - and what are these positions? Remember, we need to look not just at Sarawak - but also Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah as well..

Now, the reason Borneo Post article talks about 'State civil service' - and this would be different from Federal civil service. Does the Sarawak State Constitution provide for 'special' considerations when it come to the 'state civil service'. If there is none, then reasonably the 'best' candidates will be appointed and/or promoted, and of course when it comes to dealing with the public - i.e. effective provision of service, then there must be consideration about language and maybe also other 'cultural' or 'social' consideration.

Irrespective of the considerations that come into play when it comes to appointments and/or promotions, civil servants have a duty to serve the people equally and without discrimination, in accordance with the law. Hence, their decisions should not be based on political affiliations, family ties, 'threats' or 'rewards/bribes/...'.

Now, this article in the Borneo Post attracted by attention - A case of lopsided representation, which deals with the Sarawak State Civil Service.

Well, what about Selangor State Civil Service - now ruled by the Opposition coalition government, with a PKR Menteri Besar? What is the state of the Selangor State Civil Service? Look also maybe at Selangor State owned companies and GLCs - CEOs, Board of Directors, Upper management? See some older posts concerning Selangor..

A case of lopsided representation

State civil service a far cry from diverse ethnicity that Sarawak is known for, say community leadersKUCHING:
It is known that Sarawak is home to various ethnic groups but when it
comes to the state civil service, it does not reflect the same
diversity.

Currently, the state’s 2.6 million population comprises
mainly the Dayaks – the Ibans, Bidayuhs and Orang Ulus – followed by
the Chinese, the Malays and the Melanaus, while the rest consists of
smaller ethnic groups that include the Indians and Eurasians.

However
in last year’s statistics for the state civil service, the breakdown
was far different from the actual racial composition.

In this
respect, the Dayak and Chinese communities are seeking the assistance
from Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem in rectifying
such imbalance.

According to Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association
(SDGA) president Dr Dusit Jaul, statistics have indicated that the
professional and management group in the state civil service appears to
be biased toward a particular ethnic group.

“The Dayaks’
under-representation in the management and professional group is very
obvious. This is something that we in SDGA, in particular, and the whole
Dayak community in general, strongly urge the chief minister to look
into.

“When our chief minister proclaims that he is a chief
minister for all, we trust his words. The next five years would be for
our chief minister to honestly correct this imbalance – the failure of
which could lead to political liability for the ruling party going into
the 12th state election,” Dusit told The Borneo Post yesterday.

He
also pointed out that today’s youths were more discerning than before,
in that they surely would want an explanation on the imbalance in the
state civil service.

“We cannot hide facts from them, more so when
it involves unfairness. Thus, true to his promise to be a leader for
all, we strongly advocate for our chief minister to immediately take the
necessary step to rectify this imbalance.

“We in SDGA believe
that there is more than enough number of Dayaks to be promoted to higher
posts in the state civil service. We also believe that Dayak officers
are as equally capable as their counterparts from other ethnic groups.

“So
seriously, do consider the Dayaks for management post as doing so would
shield the state government from accusation of discrimination and
marginalisation. The other point is that by policy and act of
inclusivity, the state government would harness the best talents to
administer the state – something which the Singapore government has
successfully done,” explained Dusit.

The Chinese community also urged Adenan to intervene and tackle the matter seriously.

Dongzong
president Temenggong Dato Vincent Lau said the community knew that this
had been happening because some of those who were in the recruitment
process had been irresponsible.

“This is happening not because the
Dayak or the Chinese applicants are not qualified or incapable enough,
but because of those responsible for recruitment – they have been making
decisions without taking into consideration the ratio regarding racial
composition in Sarawak.

“The selection of civil servants should be
fairly distributed among those from different races. Something needed
to be done to address the situation. We have been complaining and hoping
that more Chinese could be recruited. After all, in different
departments, you need some Chinese to communicate properly with Chinese
customers,” said Lau, urging the relevant authorities in the state that
they must address the issue.

“It must be done to ensure that all
races are given the same opportunity and also to maintain the balance of
different races within the civil service. This is important to ensure
harmony of races.”

For Sarawak Federation of Foochow Associations
president Dato Dr Ngu Piew Seng, the number of Dayaks and Chinese in the
civil service remained minimal, despite both communities constituting
about 70 per cent of the total population.

“I hope the chief minister would do something to rectify the situation.

“I
am from the Chinese community and I know that it is not true that the
Chinese have been blamed for not being interested to work in the civil
service. And like the Dayaks, the Chinese are always being bypassed in
terms of promotion. This has to be looked into as well,” he stressed.

Ngu’s
sentiment was shared by Board of Management of Kuching Chung Hua Middle
School No 1, 3 and 4 chairman Richard Wee, who said that in general
principle, it would be fair to reflect the composition of the state
civil service in accordance with the actual racial composition in the
population.

“However, there are many other factors to be
considered. Primarily, the civil service needs to have a transparent
system based on meritocracy for future promotions for all; rather than
basing it on the previous unwritten practice of race. This is to attract
the younger generation of all races to consider civil service as their
chosen career path.

“The practice in the past had deterred many
from joining the civil service; hence the imbalance seen in the current
situation. Hopefully, there could be a change in the state government’s
policy that would encourage new graduates to view the civil service
differently,” said Wee.

Meanwhile, PRS Youth deputy chief
Councillor Sempurai Petrus Ngelai said if the statistics released on May
31 last year were to made as a yardstick for the Group A civil
servants’ proportion against the state’s racial composition, then it
clearly did not reflect the government’s policy of inclusive and
fairness in the civil service.

“This trend, if it were to still
persist, would not be healthy for the state government as it would give
the impression that other racial groups are being inadequately
represented in the civil service, especially among the officers in Group
A. Even with the combination of the two racial groups ((Dayaks
and Chinese), they are still far less than the other group. What we
worry is that people tend to speculate and perceive that state civil
service is dominated by a certain racial group, which is bad for state
government’s image,” he said.

Sempurai hoped that the statistics
would be improved going forward, given that Adenan received overwhelming
support from all the races in the recent state election.

“It is
clear that the inclusivity for all races in the vision of state’s
development and the rakyat (people)-oriented policy made him (Adenan)
win the state election with flying colours.

“PRS Youth hopes that
the Public Service Commission (PSC) and state government would improve
and give equal chances to incoming junior officer of all races in the
state civil service,” he said. - Borneo Post, 28/5/2016

Chinese population drops

April 12, 2012, ThursdayBy Peter Sibon, reporters@theborneopost.com

KUCHING: Statistics show overall increase of state’s population but decline in number of Chinese .The
Chinese are the only community which showed a decline in number between
2005 and 2010 although they maintain their position as the second
largest ethnic group in the state.

Based on the latest statistics
obtained from the Sarawak Statistics Bulletin 2012, the Chinese
population in Sarawak declined from 590,300 in 2005 to 577,646 in 2010 –
a drop of 2.2 per cent.

The Ibans are still the single largest
ethnic group with a population of 713,421 in 2010 — an increase of 6.4
per cent from 670,400 in 2005.

The third largest ethnic group are
the Malays with 568,113, followed by the Bidayuhs (198,473); Melanaus
(123,410); other Bumiputera groups (156,436); Indians 7,411 and others
9,138.

Overall, the state’s population rose from 2.3 million in 2005 to 2.47 million in 2010 – a jump of 7.4 per cent.

Among
the major towns and cities, Kuching, the state capital, remains the
most populous with 617,887 people in 2010 — an increase from 567,200 in
2005.

Miri, the only other urban centre in the state with city
status, has the second largest population with 300,543, followed Sibu
(247,995) and Bintulu (189,146).

Among the 31 towns and cities in
the state, four have fewer than 20,000 people. These are Dalat with a
population of only 19,062; followed by Matu (17,369); Julau (15,816) and
Pakan (15,480).

Major towns with a population reaching almost 100,000 areSerian (91,599) and Samarahan (89,923).

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